Thinking like this, the two acted immediately.

"Fellow Martial Brothers and Sisters, myself and Martial Brother Liu have been appointed to lead this expedition, but we alone are not enough to handle everything. We would like to request your help in managing this endeavor, for which we will divulge the necessary meritorious reward."

Wen Susu directly attacked using her trump card, bringing everyone on and even stating that she could share the merits of this battle's success if necessary. It was a dimensional reduction strike upon the divided group who were beginning to spawn hostility, causing many faces to change.

Chief of these was Dongfang Wang, whose playful smile disappeared into a serious yet grim frown. He sized up Wen Susu once and then smiled, but there was no mirth in it any more.

"It seems that Young Lady Wen is not to be underestimated. The Noble Wen clan will definitely rise with you in their midst." Dongfang Wang paid some insincere lip service before ignoring the duo, focusing on the group below.

The two also understood that this fellow had likely initially come here to cause trouble by announcing the news so publicly, but clearly things weren't going the way he wanted.

Despite this, Wen Susu and Liu Sha were not angry nor vengeful. Path Controllers were already on the 'deacon/elder' track, so rather than fight like disciples using dueling rings or hot-blooded means, it was precisely these kinds of underhanded political movements that they used as the battleground for supremacy.

Disciples didn't care about things like injuring each other, forming enmities, or even killing their opponent, because they were focused on rising higher and never on stability.

For those who had chosen to forgo the rise to higher ranks to take a 'managerial' position at their current level, stability was the key. They, more than anyone, hated to see chaos appear, which was why Li Ling was so strongly disliked.

From below, the uneasy Black Heaven Sect disciples had gathered around the various sect defenses, laid out by their ancestor who was at its core.

The Black Heaven Sect had previously prided itself on their unique Grade Four Black Heaven Formation that was designed by their Ancestor himself, who was a rare Formation Master Talent.

It allowed them, who merely had a Core Formation level Ancestor as their bulwark, to dare to be greedy and become overlords over their own small region, completely sure that none of the lower sects and factions would dare disobey them.

But who could have expected that their leaders would court death and attract the attention of one of the biggest behemoths of the entire cultivation world, who also happened to be their backer on top?

Now they were trapped like rats in their own formation that they knew could never keep out their current foes, meaning that this was a siege meant to last until they all died!

Not only that, the fact that the Six Paths Demon Sect sent only its hall-level disciples to the battlefront showed that this demonic sect viewed the entire thing as a training exercise for their people!

How hateful and despairing was that!

Well, there were always tales about the indomitable human spirit, but that was often told by humans for humans to make themselves feel good.

The harsh truth was that you could pick anyone at random - literally anyone - from the Black Heaven Sect group and promise them freedom in exchange for betraying their sect, they would do it!

Most of those here manning the defenses were only there because they had no choice. Their backs were pushed against a wall and there was no way out, so all they could do was grit their teeth and fight back, hoping for a miracle.

If the slightest opening appeared, they would take it!

It would be very easy for the Six Paths Demon Sect to win this siege. They had so many options, from raw overwhelming power, trickery, brute force, enslavement, and so much more.

But the objective was clear, they were to use the roughest and clumsiest method in order to gather experience for their disciples, so Liu Sha called out immediately to the eager Path Walkers and Path Lords that populated the airship.

"Six Paths disciples, get ready to begin!"

The Path Walkers immediately arranged themselves in order, numbering around 750, while the Path Lords came to stand before them, numbering just under 80. At the very lead were the Path Ascenders who were here to farm merit to finish up their cultivation before the year-end tournament.

Initially, there had only been around 3 of them, but that number surged up to about 15 due to the high-profile actions of Li Ling, bringing more eyes to this 'troubled' zone. Even then, these 15 were only those who had been randomly chosen to stay, as the number would be ten times that, same with the Path Lords.

It was only the Path Walkers who were unaware of everything going on and were allowed to come and sign up freely. As such, while the Path Ascenders and Path Lords wore grim expressions full of wariness towards each other, the Path Walkers were naively excited as if this was a fun park ride.

Liu Sha's lips curled up as he folded his arms. "Six Paths disciples… attack!"

With a powerful whoosh sound, the Path Ascenders took the lead and charged off the edge of the airship, manifesting their various means of transport in the form of flying swords, other weapons, special consumables, or even pet beasts, as they also charged downward.

This caused the faces of those behind the Black Heaven Sect barrier, who could not see what was going on upon the airship's deck, to change drastically to one of horror, almost releasing their waste into their pants as they looked up with despair.

It turned out that they were wrong, oh so very wrong!

The Six Paths Demon Sect had no intention of wasting time in a prolonged siege with them, as a top sect like it always had some activities going on that needed the presence of disciples, so they couldn't have them farting about in one place for too long.

As such, the sect obviously opted to end things using brute force. Throw all the Path Walkers, Path Lords, and any present Path Ascenders into a direct confrontation and establish a meat grinder battle, where one would come out sharper and victorious, or one would come back as a corpse.

They didn't care much about things at this level because the inflow of new blood was high enough that the sect mostly cared about quality, opting to raise disciples like gu in various environments. The outcome of this was the Black Heaven Sect's defenders being ordered by their elders to channel the formation towards the airship.

Immediately, the previously clear sky was now coated full with black clouds, for as far as the eye could see, with hints of stormy rain and thunder coming soon. The mist surged as if it were a living thing, coiling towards the airship with the hope to either restrict or crush it.

Wen Susu raised an eyebrow with interest, then smiled coldly. While the action might have seemed pointless, it was based on the ignorance of the Black Heaven Sect that this airship was of a far higher grade than what they could imagine, so its constant barrage of attacks began to fade as soon as they touched it, causing no harm whatsoever.

In fact, the Path Lords had already jumped out the side and were half in the air and half on the ground, many immediately striking out with preliminary attacks. The Path Lords unleashed some awe-inspiring attacks that seemed akin to the heavens colliding with the earth, causing great spectacle in the sky as daoist arts like Earth Spire, Fire Ball, and others crashed into the barrier.

BLERGH!

Many first realm disciples of the Black Heaven Sect were directly killed, blood spurting out of their mouths as their dantian shattered due to the surging essence contained in the attacks. Because they were bound to the defensive array, it meant that they had to use their own cultivation and spiritual qi to feed it, because spirit stones could not be fed as an alternative in terms of power source.

This direct connection meant that the strengthening of the formation was at its highest, but when the attacks came in such plentiful numbers, it also meant that they would have to pay a huge price to withstand it.

In this case, many of the weaker disciples who were called in to fill the numbers naturally reached their expiration date ahead of time.

It was just the first strike of the final battle, and already the Black Heaven Sect lost 10% of its total number. This simultaneously puzzled the upper echelon of both factions, the Six Paths Demon Sect being puzzled while the Black Heaven Sect elders shook, becoming deeply frightened.

｢System Prompt: You have gained 459 Slaughter Points.｣

Meanwhile, hidden in the void was a smarmy Li Ling who had witnessed and heard everything from the start, feeling like he was getting oh so much closer to the bottom of this mystery surrounding the Flood Dragon corpse.

Of course, before that, he threw a little jab at the barrier, but thanks to being the only one possessing the system, only he enjoyed the full payout!

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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